On the Second Sunday after Pentecost in Year A, the Gospel reading has two options: one short, one long. I’m sticking with the short one, so this will be a children’s sermon on Matthew 9:35-10:8. I make that choice primarily because it is a tighter, more coherent story. The short version is about Jesus sending […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year A, 2nd Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 6 (11) — Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23)
In Year A, the Gospel text for the Second Sunday after Pentecost is Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23) — that is, the core is 9:35-10:8, and 10:9-23 is optional. I can see why they give the preacher the opportunity to cut it off partway. The text sort of morphs in the middle, subtly shifting topics. Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23) 9:35-38 […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year A, Trinity, Matthew 28:16-20
The Sunday after Pentecost is called “Trinity Sunday” in the West. If you frequent Orthodox churches you will know that pretty much every Sunday (really every single service in the year) is about the Holy Trinity. In the West we tend to need the annual reminder of the nature of the God we worship — […]
Pentecost: A Children’s Sermon on Acts 2:1-21
The story of the first Christian Pentecost is full of evocative details, just waiting for a storyteller to draw them out. If you want the children to hear only what is explicitly on the page, better than a Children’s Sermon on Acts 2:1-21, you might want to read the text to them. I think, however, it […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year A, Pentecost, John 7:37-39
On the day of Pentecost in Year A, the alternate Gospel reading is John 7:37-39. John 7:37-39 I’ve previously written on the primary Gospel reading for the day, John 20:19-23, when it was paired with the story of Jesus’ kind revelation to “doubting Thomas” (once in 2020, and once in 2019). This year, Pentecost happens […]